It required banks to write down the value of assets (such as long-term bonds) to market value, even if the banks intended to hold them until maturity.

FORBES: The Illusive Rally Top

Selling for a ratio of six times enterprise value (market cap plus long-term debt) to EBITDA cash flow (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), Cemex looks cheap.

FORBES: One ratio does not fit all

At the heart of Buffett's simple but highly effective strategy is having the discipline to recognize when the market is not properly reflecting the true long-term value of a particular business, which can be calculated by discounting its likely future cash flows at an appropriate discount rate.

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We use EBIT--earnings before interest and taxes--and we compare that to enterprise value, which is the market value of a company's stock plus the long-term debt that a company has.

FORBES

We will focus on being in size for this quick momentum type move, but if market conditions continue to improve JPMorgan could represent a tremendous value for a long-term buy in this area.

FORBES: Connect

Likewise, companies do not have to value at market prices shares in affiliates and subsidiaries that are held for long-term investment purposes.

ECONOMIST: Japanese corporate profits

For such an exercise, banks would have to value these bonds not at their expected long-term values but at the current depressed market values.

WSJ: European Disunion: Ties That Bound Europe Now Fraying

Then, with much of the European bond market effectively neutralised by the long-term purchase of government debt by the ECB (we are paid not to think about the market value, says one fund manager), you make a large part of the world's debts difficult to value.

BBC: Business

Warren Buffett, long-known for spotting value in out-of-favor names, remains optimistic about the long-term prospects for the market.

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Though business trends decelerated in the fourth quarter, we remain focused on new product development and market share gains to offset the secular declines in the PND industry and the continued generation of long-term shareholder value.

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